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AJ
Guest
FROM: UW - Madison Foods Research
Subject: Results: Venison vs. Beef -- Blind Taste Test
Controversy has long raged about the relative quality of venison and beef as gourmet food. Some people say that venison is tough, with a strong wild taste. Others insist that venison is tender and its flavor is delicate.
The U of W Foods Research Department recently conducted a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions.
First, a high-choice Holstein steer was led into a swamp a mile and a half from the nearest road, then shot several times. After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged over rocks and logs, through mud and dust, thrown into a pickup truck box and transported through rain and snow 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for 9 days. After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout this test, within the limitations of the butchering environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff at the carcass, but were chased out of the garage if they attempted to lick or take a bite out of the carcass, or sit for long periods on the workbench.
Next, the steer was dragged into the house and down the basement steps. Half a dozen inexperienced, but enthusiastic men worked on the carcass with meat saws, cleavers, and dull knives while ingesting massive amounts of warm beer. The result was 385 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and 2 inches thick on the other. The steaks were fried in a skillet of rancid bacon grease, along with three pounds of onions. After two hours of frying the contents of the skillet was served to a panel of three blindfolded volunteers. Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the members said it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten at hunting camp for the last 25 years. The results of this trial indicate conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of high-quality beef and the taste of venison.
Subject: Results: Venison vs. Beef -- Blind Taste Test
Controversy has long raged about the relative quality of venison and beef as gourmet food. Some people say that venison is tough, with a strong wild taste. Others insist that venison is tender and its flavor is delicate.
The U of W Foods Research Department recently conducted a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions.
First, a high-choice Holstein steer was led into a swamp a mile and a half from the nearest road, then shot several times. After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged over rocks and logs, through mud and dust, thrown into a pickup truck box and transported through rain and snow 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for 9 days. After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout this test, within the limitations of the butchering environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff at the carcass, but were chased out of the garage if they attempted to lick or take a bite out of the carcass, or sit for long periods on the workbench.
Next, the steer was dragged into the house and down the basement steps. Half a dozen inexperienced, but enthusiastic men worked on the carcass with meat saws, cleavers, and dull knives while ingesting massive amounts of warm beer. The result was 385 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and 2 inches thick on the other. The steaks were fried in a skillet of rancid bacon grease, along with three pounds of onions. After two hours of frying the contents of the skillet was served to a panel of three blindfolded volunteers. Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the members said it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten at hunting camp for the last 25 years. The results of this trial indicate conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of high-quality beef and the taste of venison.
